Is my basement area heated?

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FrontrangeRVer

FrontrangeRVer

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Dec 12, 2008
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Hi, I own a 2006 Voyage 35A, and my water pump is on one side of my motorhome, and the sewer compartment is on the other side.  I have installed remote thermometers in both compartments, and for the life of me I can't get the temperatures to move up or change when I run the furnace.

I have heard that these basement areas are heated, but I sure can't feel any hot air or see anything.  Are these areas heated by the furnace?  ???
 
I want to add that I have insulated both compartment insides with that aluminum faced bubble wrap stuff, and hang trouble lights in both compartments when the temps are below 25 degrees or so.

I just can't trust that the furnace heats those areas!  ???
 
I cannot respond with a 100% confirmation, however, I have studied the schematics for my Sightseer (35J) online and I believe there is a section of most A class winnie's that are heated, but the entire basement area is definitely NOT heated.  There is a channel between the frame rails that runs from behind the door down to the wet bay that contains the gray water tank, all sewage lines and freshwater lines.  This compartment is sealed and contains the furnace and air vents for the hot air.  What I cannot determine is whether hot air is actually supplied to these areas, or whether it is simply warmed by the warm air vents running through the compartment.  The wet bay and black water tank are NOT inside this compartment on my sightseer, so it appears that even if this compartment is heated, the black water tank and drain pipes from both the black and gray tanks are exposed to external temperatures.

I cannot confirm this is the same on your voyage, but winnebago seems to share much of it's A-class design "infrastructure" across lines based on what I have seen.
 
Hi FrontRangerRVer,

I didn't think my water/sewer bay was heated either until I got my head inside and actully looked up and to the rear.  It does appear that a heating duct drops down into the top of the bay.  I have been is some pretty cold places the last few months, temps down into the single digits. But I have never experienced a freeze up. Whatever it is it must be working.......

Sarge
 
FR,
I see you are also inquiring as to whether these areas are heated. I look forward to the replies. Thanks for inviting me to the Forum.
Frank O.
 
Mark - our compartments (mine does, not sure about yours) do get some benefit of the furnace, but even at that my plumbing bay is very susceptible to really cold ( < 25 degrees) weather due to the spun plastic compartment and no insulation.  I had some leftover fiberglass insulation from my shop construction which I keep at the ready for cold weather here at the ranch.  I'll also break out a drop light.  Fortunately I only have one compartment to be concerned with.

You might want to consider fibreglass and not plastic bubble wrap if you are going to use heat for the sake of safety.

You could give Winnie owner relations a call next week - they should be able to help.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.  I know Frank (above) has the same concern, and we have been talking about insulating both areas, as neither of us are sure that these areas are heated.  Winnebago told me a couple of years ago that basements are heated, and I believe they changed the process going from a small ducted hose to drilling a couple of holes in the heat duct. 

John, did you cut out a "block" of the pink stuff and lay it in the bottom of the sewer area?
 
FrontrangeRVer said:
....John, did you cut out a "block" of the pink stuff and lay it in the bottom of the sewer area?
Click to expand...
Mark - yes - that's the idea.  The insulation looks to be about ~R6-9 or so and has a plastic facing on one side.  It was used to insulate the metal building I had built for the shop/RV port.  It has stood up well to repeated handling, at least so far.

 
My Sightseer 35N has two or three inch diameter holes cut in the bottom of the duct -under the registers - in the bedroom and in the bathroom. There may also be one in the duct beside the dinette. Some heat does get into the compartment containing the water and waste tanks.

A Winnebago customer service guy told me that my coach should be good down to 20 degrees with the furnace set at 72 degrees. We set the heat at 50 degrees at night so I added a GFI outlet in the service bay and use a small 1500 watt electric heater set at 45 degrees to get heat into both the service bay and the tank compartment which is open to the bay.
I have overnighted down to 9 degrees with this setup with no problem.
 
Gosh Clay!  I didn't know you were over here!  Good to see you.

Thanks for the response.  I removed a couple of the floor registers and looked down them the best I could with a flashlight, but couldnt see the holes, and can't see any "light" coming from the metal duct work.

To be honest with you...if we had to run our furnace at 72 degrees...we would burn up.  I/we prefer inside temps at low/mid 60s daytime and near 60 at night...I will probably run a small electric heater inside and when the temps drop, the furnace should kick on.

We are going to Breckenridge (Colorado...near us actually), for the week of Christmas, and the high temps are low/mid 20s with lower single digits at night.....I'll let everyone know what freezes!
 
Mark,
I am with you as to how I manage my heat. I have yet to even turn on the Gas Heater except during the PDI. We have camped when the temps dropped down into the thirties so have not been in the freezing temps yet. I usually get up first and turn on the heat pump which quickly gets the temps into the fifties to near sixty where I set it to turn off.
I like Clays idea of installing an outlet in the service bay and then running a small space heater or a drop light that could run off one of those electrical plugs that have a built in thermostat. Could do the same for the water bay under the kitchen in addition to insulating as you suggested. All this will be a next spring project for me.
BTW - aren't you being a little optimistic about temps in Breck during Christmas week. Those sound like temps we will see here. You could easily see sub zero at night. Hope your coach is well prepared along with you and your family. It should be great spending the week during Christmas at the slopes. Definitely something I have always wanted to do but can't get the DW interested.
Have a great Christmas - Frank O.
 
Here is my mod that fixed the water compartment freeze problem.  I installed an electrical outlet in the water compartment.  I plugged a digital temperature activated switch into the outlet and a 60 watt light bulb.  When the temp drops to 39 degrees, the light comes on and heats the compartment.  It works great.  Here are photos:


 

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LK23,
Where did you tap into the 110 and then how did you snake the wire into the Service Bay? I like your setup.
Frank O.
 
LK23 said:
Here is my mod that fixed the water compartment freeze problem.  I installed an electrical outlet in the water compartment.  I plugged a digital temperature activated switch into the outlet and a 60 watt light bulb.  When the temp drops to 39 degrees, the light comes on and heats the compartment.  It works great.  Here are photos:
Click to expand...
Hi Rex - it's great to see you over here  ;D  Nice mod to that compartment - you have almost shamed me into shamelessly copying your idea  8)
 
More info on my Mod for the water compartment:

To install the 110 volt receptacle I tapped into the 110 volt outlet on the opposite side of the coach, near the basement entertainment center.  I ran 12/2 w. ground outdoor romex cable through the storage compartment and out a hole I drilled in the back wall of the storage compartment wall to allow the cable to run behind the water compartment.  I drilled a hold in the back of the water compartment and pulled the cable through.  Then I mounted the 110 volt receptacle on the back wall of the water compartment.  It was a fairly easy install once I determined where to run the cable.

A shorter version:  I found the nearest 110 volt outlet to tap into and ran the 12/2 cable to the back of the storage compartment.
 
John Canfield said:
Hi Rex - it's great to see you over here  ;D  Nice mod to that compartment - you have almost shamed me into shamelessly copying your idea  8)
Click to expand...

Sounds like I will have some work to do in the Spring....another shameless copy! 

Thanks Rex for the pictures.
 
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